Spirit Adrift – Curse of Conception (20 Buck Spin, 06 October 2017)

Migration Fest is officially here! For more information, you can check out this feature we did several months ago, but instead we highly recommend this hugely informative guide to the festival AND the city of Pittsburgh in general that was assembled by our esteemed colleagues at Meat Mead Metal.

Whether you’re coming to Pittsburgh, are already here, or you aren’t able to make the trip but you are interested in good music, today we’d like to call your attention to Spirit Adrift who will be performing Saturday evening (28th July) as part of their nationwide headlining tour!

Secret Cutter – Self Titled (self-released, 10 February 2014)

Bethlehem, Pennsylvania — in the heart of the Lehigh Valley — was named for the canonical birthplace of Jesus, while today it’s better known as the birthplace of Jonathan Taylor Thomas. Well, that, plus the fact that (like our own hometown on the opposite end of the state) it served a pretty significant role in this country’s steel industry.

While the city is not exactly known as a hotbed of musical activity (losing out to neighboring Allentown in terms of songs commemorating the working class), it has given us a trio who produces an utterly brutal blend of sludge and grind: Secret Cutter. In this article, we’re going to check out that band’s first two full-length records, the second of which sees the light of day today!

The Maryland Doom Fest 2018

Friday 22 June through Sunday 24 June 2018

at Cafe 611, 611 N Market St, Frederick MD 21701

Starting ONE WEEK from today, the annual “weekend of doom in its purest form” will be taking place once again in the middle of Maryland. Check out the list of bands below, then click on those ticket links above!

Bell Witch – Mirror Reaper (Profound Lore Records, 10 October 2017)

Today we’re going to talk — again — about Bell Witch. Since the release of their demo recording back in 2011, this bass+drums+vocals duo of doom has been delighting our auditory cortices with a combination of immense gravitas and lofty, haunting melodies. With the departure of drummer/vocalist Adrian Guerra following sophomore album Four Phantoms, bassist/vocalist Dylan Desmond soldiered on with a new partner in Jesse Shreibman.

As observed in our 2016 review of that 2015 double-LP, the tragic passing of friend and former bandmate Guerra devastated the members of Bell Witch — who, as it turns out, had just started working together on the first new material with their current line-up. As you might expect, this event would certainly have a strong effect on the writing process, the result of which became Mirror Reaper, revealed to the world last fall.

With these guys hitting the road TONIGHT for a month-long expedition all over North America (including stops at two different festivals this weekend), alongside fellow Pacific Northwesterners Yob, we’ll spend some time with Mirror Reaper, and then share that list of tour dates down below.